Secret Walks #14: Around Lake Hollywood, 3.6 miles

For all the thousands of times I drove up Barham to get to work, I never once made the turn on Lake Hollywood Drive to investigate. What's the big deal? Another cement reservoir surrounded by trees, right? Hardly. A walk around the idyllic lake created by the Mulholland Dam in 1924, gave us a beautiful view of the Hollywood sign, the old Bugsy Siegel property, and Hollywood's only commercial vineyard. On top of that, the Mulholland Dam has an interesting history. Named for Wm. Mulholland, GM & Chief Engineer of the LA Bureau of Water Works & Supply, it's nearly identical in size and shape to the catastrophic St. Francis Dam that collapsed in 1928 killing nearly 600 people in its wake. Because Mulholland engineered both dams, his caution and concerns over a repeat collapse triggered regulations to forever limit the Hollywood Reservoir level from reaching capacity. Ho-hum? Hollywood didn't think so. Mulholland's apprehension about a St. Francis Dam repeat inspired an early scene in 1974's Chinatown, where Hollis "Mulwray" refuses to build a new dam. Barbara and I both watched the movie last week—made the hike more interesting! Pictured below: Barbara on the dam with the Hollywood sign off high to the right, the dam, the view. Yep, we walked around the whole dam thing.